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abitus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word abitus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₁ei-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin abeo
Latin abitus
Latin abitio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈa.bɪ.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈaː.bi.tus][1]

Forms

abitus m (genitive abitūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin abeō (“to go away”) + -tus, a fourth-declension noun of action.[2][1] abeō is a compound of ab- and eō1 (“to go”),[3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *ei- (“to go”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ei- (“to go”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] in whom someone has had more grief from a husband's departure than pleasure from his arrival.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a going away or departure, as in Terence, Lucretius, Cicero and Pliny the Elder.[2][4] Concretely it is a way out, an exit:[2][4] Virgil has every exit ringed with guards, and Tacitus has wagons placed round to block the ways out.[2][4] In late and medieval texts it can mean departure from life, death.[5][6] Church Latin has it as departure.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a husband's departure.[2][3][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, of a departure.[4][8]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of a way out.[2][8]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of blocked exits.[4][8]
  • mid-8th century – The Life of Eligius.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A going away, departure.[2][4][1]
  2. A way out, exit, outlet.[2][4][1]
  3. (Late and Medieval Latin) Decease, death.[6][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Abitus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/abitus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·